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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2012 Toyota Camry — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 645 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

645

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Toyota Camry — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Toyota Camry

613 complaints

2011 Toyota Camry

623 complaints

2012 Toyota Camry

645 complaints

2013 Toyota Camry

301 complaints

2014 Toyota Camry

14 complaints

2015 Toyota Camry

271 complaints

2016 Toyota Camry

189 complaints

2017 Toyota Camry

148 complaints

2018 Toyota Camry

747 complaints

2019 Toyota Camry

397 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Power Train 146 reports

Unknown Or Other 88 reports

Air Bags 83 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 73 reports

Electrical System 68 reports

Structure 68 reports

Service Brakes 66 reports

Steering 65 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Air Bags ODI 11057737 12/31/2017

DECEMBER 29TH AT 3:00 A.M MY WIFE AND I WAS GOING TO THE ATM IN GRANGER TX. AS I APPROACHED A SHARP CURVE I WENT TO APPLY THE BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN AND THE CAR SPEEDED UP HIT THE CULVERT AND WENT AIRBORNE. WE CAME DOWN ON A BOULDER AND SOMEHOW WE MANAGED TO DRIVE BACK TO MY BROTHER IN LAWS. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT GO OFF. I HAVE SEVERE WHIPLASH, I CRACKED MY L1 AND INJURED MY SIDE A…

Electrical System ODI 11057746 12/31/2017

TAKATA RECALL. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY, CAR WOULD NOT START, RECEIVED SOME ELECTRICAL CODES WHEN WENT TO LOCAL SHOP (MERCHANT AUTO AND TIRE, MD). CAR WAS PARKED AND NEXT TIME, WHEN TRYING TO START DID NOT START. BATTERY IS GOOD. I HAD PASSENGER SIDE SEAT AIRBAG RECALL FIXED ABOUT 6 MONTHS BACK (EARLY PART OF 2017)

Air Bags ODI 10557975 12/31/2013

ON 1/8/13 I WAS GOING DOWN HIGHWAY AT 60 MPH AND I NOTICED PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG OFF LIGHT WAS ON ,WITH AN ADULT IN PASSENGER SEAT. I TOOK TO DEALER AND THEY SAID IT CHECKED OK. ON 12/23/13 I WAS ON HIGHWAY AT 60 MPH AND I NOTICED PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG OFF LIGHT WAS ON ,WITH AN ADULT IN PASSENGER SEAT ONCE AGAIN I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER,AND THEY SAID IT CHECKED OK. I AM C…

Fuel/propulsion System ODI 11445376 12/29/2021

I bought this car used from a dealership. within 4 days and less than 40 driving miles on the first cold morning (42°f) the 6 speed automatic transmission slipped. the engine revved as i was backing out of my carport then in less than 50 yards i went to pull up on the street. again the engine revved and car was barely moving. it did catch as i cleared that intersection and beh…

Power Train ODI 11057333 12/29/2017

WHILE DRIVING ON ANY ROAD BETWEEN 20 AND 40 MPH, 3RD AND 4TH SPEED, THE TRANSMISSION SHUDDERS AND WHILE PRESSING THE GAS, THE VEHICLE HESITATES. SOMETIMES IT IS SOMEWHAT CLEAR TO ACCELERATE, OTHER TIMES IT FEELS LIKE YOU ARE FIGHTING A WALL THAT WILL NOT MOVE. I BELIEVE FROM WHAT I HAVE READ THAT IT HAS TO DO WITH THE ECU AND A POSSIBLE FAULTY TORQUE CONVERTER. THIS SHOULD …

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Toyota Camry, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2012 Toyota Camry reliable?

Owners have filed 645 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2012 Toyota Camry, most often about power train. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Toyota Camry years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.